David Laing, eminent historian, antiquary and bibliographer, was the second son of the Edinburgh bookseller William Laing (1764-1832) and his wife Helen Kirk, and was born on 20 April 1793. He was educated at the Canongate Grammar School and later on attended Greek classes at the University of Edinburgh. At the age of fourteen, he became apprenticed to his father who, at the time, was the only bookseller in Edinburgh dealing in foreign literature. Laing was able, occasionally, to travel abroad in search of rare or curious books. In 1821, he became a partner in his father's business and throughout his life he was an avid collector of manuscripts and rescued many from destruction. The first published work of his own was Auctarium Bibliothecae Edinburgenae sive Catalogus Librorum quos Gulielmus Drummondus ab Hawthornden D.D.Q. Anno 1627 (1815). Among other works, Laing also reprinted Thomas Craig's Epithalamium on the marriage of Darnley and Mary Stuart (1821). When Sir Walter Scott founded the Bannatyne Club in 1823 for the printing of material and tracts relating to Scottish history and literature, Laing - a friend of Scott's - became Secretary of the Club and chief organiser until its dissolution in the 1860s. Laing was also associated with the Abbotsford Club, the Spalding Club, and the Wodrow Society, each of which had been set up for the publication of manuscripts and for the revival of old texts. When the keepership of the Advocates' Library fell vacant in 1818, Laing was a candidate but was not elected. He became Keeper of the Library to the Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet, a post which he occupied from 1837 until his death. On his appointment to the post, he gave up his business as a bookseller and disposed of the stock in a public sale. Laing died at Portobello, in Edinburgh, on 18 October 1878.
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Contains two texts bound together, in five different hands.The manuscript is a Sarum Breviary with a full Sarum Litany, and a Kalendar. This is in four different hands.Additionally, ff.ir-iiv and ff.231v-232v feature a Chronicle of Scottish History.The texts are described separately, under MS 27/ff. ir-iiv, 231v-232v and MS 27/ff. 1r-482v. Writing The script is good and...
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The manuscript is a Breviary dating from c 1500. Breviaries contain the official set of prayers that mark days in the Catholic calendar. This particular manuscript is Flemish in style and illumination and the Kalendar and Litany are also Flemish and Augustinian. It seems to be connected to an Augustinian foundation in the Netherlands, almost certainly to a church of Saint Paul, at Zonia or Zon.The Kalendar starts on f.2r.In the Kalendar, names...
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The manuscript is a 14th century Collectarium. The collectarium is a book that contains Collects, which are short general prayers of a particular structure used in Christian liturgy. This version originated in Italy; a Perugian provenance is clearly indicated, with Sienese connections. It is also specifically Cistercian.The Kalendar starts on f.1r.In the Kalendar, the distinctively Cistercian marks are: 10 January: Viliemi [i.e.Guillelmi] (Bishop)...
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The manuscript is a Diurnal, which means that it includes the daytime liturgical texts for the Hours of the Divine Office. This version is from the 15th century and could have originated in Bohemia and been intended for use in a nunnery dedicated to Saint Katherine. It is also specifically Dominican.The Kalendar starts on f.1r. It is missing January and February.The Table of Golden Numbers starts on f.6r. This section refers to...
Contents
The manuscript is a Diurnal, which means that it includes the daytime liturgical texts for the Hours of the Divine Office. This version is from around 1480 and originated in Italy. It is also specifically Franciscan.The Kalendar starts on f.1r.The Proprium de Tempore starts on f.7r. The Proprium de Tempore contains liturgical texts for days that have special Masses or Offices (e.g. prayers,...
Scope and Contents
A Gradual (or graduale) is a book which contains the chants sung during the Mass. It includes the music notation together with the words. Like the Breviary, it is divided into distinct parts according to the two main cycles of the liturgical year, which contain respectively all the parts of the liturgy which vary in accordance to a specific observance (proprium de tempore, 'proper of time' and...
Scope and Contents
A Gradual (or graduale) is a book which contains the chants sung during the Mass. It includes the music notation together with the words. Like the Breviary, it is divided into distinct parts according to the two main cycles of the liturgical year, which contain respectively all the parts of the liturgy which vary in accordance to a specific observance (proprium de tempore, 'proper of time' and...
Scope and Contents
Book of Hours in Latin from the 15th century, of French origin. The Use is not identified, but is not Besançon or Clermont. It may be peculiar to the Abbey of S. Claude, Condat, to which both Kalendar and Litany particularly belong (see the local saints reported under their respective headings).Golden Numbers: on fly-leaf. These are numbers assigned to each year in sequence in a 19-years cycle and are used in order to calculate the date of Easter. Each number...
Scope and Contents
Book of Hours in Latin from the 16th century, of Italian provenance. The Use is that of Rome. It was probably copied in Bologna and the Kalendar also seems to support this origin (see local saints reported).The scribe has written the Greek word telos ('end') at the end of the Hours of the Virgin (f. 119v), Penitential Psalms (f. 122v) and Office of the...
Scope and Contents
Book of Hours in Latin from the 15th century following the Use of Sarum. It was probably written for use in the diocese of Lincoln, but the illumination is French, and possibly the hand also (see local saints in the Kalendar for the connection with Lincoln).Kalendar: starts on f. 1r. Contains commemorations of Saints and Martyr, and other festivities (the most important are written in red). Miniatures illustrate activities linked to the season.The...
